What's Keeping Women from Running for Office?

While we've got a record 20 ladies rocking it out the Senate, 36 female governors, and Hillary Clinton just generally killing it with her awesomeness, one clear fact remains—there are still way more men than women in politics.

A new study seems to have uncovered why: We simply don't run for office.

The research shows that men were twice as likely as women to have thought about running for office "many times," and women were 20 percent more likely than men to never have considered it.

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However, this isn't just a matter of gender-divided career preferences. Researchers found that it's not like we're simply less interested in running, but more that we feel less encouraged, less qualified, and, therefore, are less likely to even consider politics as a career path.

But part of the reason why women are less inclined to be involved in politics is kinda on us: According to the study, young women are typically to less exposed to political information and discussion as young men are—as in, we don't tend to read about politics and we're less likely to bring up politics with our pals.

So, while the bigger issue here is the fact that women overall are made to feel less confident in our political abilities, we can certainly help encourage each other by asking our girlfriends their opinions on the latest health care bill news the next time we're having cocktails rather than their thoughts on the latest episode of Real Housewives.